How
by thepottersheir
Summary: How they finally got together, starting from fifth year. T because I'm paranoid.
1. Beginnings

_**~ To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure ~**_

_**~ It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated~**_

Lily POV:

_'...I don't need help from a filthy little mudblood like her.'_

'Then I won't bother in the future.' Lily told him coldly.

Lily backed away; this had been the final straw. Over the years she had stuck by and defended Severus Snape, but this was too far.

Sure, some of the girls in her dorm had warned her, 'He's a Slytherin.' 'He'll just work for Voldemort.' But Lily had faith in her best friend...

Or should she say ex-best friend...

Oh God...

_No, you're Lily Evans,_ she told herself, _you do not cry..._

She had finally realized how long she had been standing in front of Potter and Snape. The crowd of girls she was sitting with, along with the remaining three marauders, were staring at her in wordless judgment.

'Lily! Lily, I'm so sorry!' Snape burst out.

'No Sev, I'm done. I've defended you... a-and lied for you... for all these years...' Lily's voice was beginning to break.

She looked away from the Slytherin in front of her, and realized how Potter was looking at her... This wasn't normal...

James had seemed to notice her eyes browsing his face, trying to find a flaw... But she couldn't.

_No. No. You're Lily Evans! _She told herself again, _you do not think like that about Potter!'_

The atmosphere became exceedingly awkward, it seemed as if the twenty onlookers were continuously looking backwards and forwards between the two fifth years. Realizing this, they both tore their gazes away from each other, James running a hand through his uncontrollable black hair.

It was just too much for Lily to handle at that point, she tried to think of a way to excuse herself from the situation, but no idea came into her mind.

Lily couldn't take it anymore, without thinking of anything else but her desire to escape, she ran from the edge of the lake.

James POV:

Lily had run away from the scene, yet James still thought she was incredibly brave for finally sticking up for herself when it came to Snivellius.

Without thinking or wondering what rumors would spread of doing so; James sped off at full speed after Lily. He finally found her in the somewhat deserted common room, crying silently in an arm chair.

Lily POV:

Lily was aware that someone had just entered the common room, but she really was too preoccupied with her own problems to care who it was.

'...Evans?' came a soft voice from behind Lily, 'You okay?'

'I... just...,' Lily sighed, 'I don't even know anymore...'

Potter shot her one of his classic smiles, usually it would be enough to make any girl's heart melt, yet it just didn't work on Lily.

James walked around Lily and brought over a nearby chair and sat with her.

'Want to talk about it?'

Lily shook her head.

'Want to eat icecream and chocolate with Alice and Marlene all night?'

Lily laughed slightly and nodded. James laughed as well.

'I'll go get them,' he turned to leave, but someone had grabbed his hand. What surprised him was that it was Lily.

Trying to ignore the burning sensation that ran through her hand, Lily smiled at him and said, 'Thanks.'

James POV

Felling incredibly smug, James made his way out of the portrait hole. He began to walk down to the kitchens to get the promised food, when he was cornered by Alice.

'What did you say to her!' she demanded.

'Lovely to see you too, as always, Prewett...' James began, although he decided it would be best just to answer when he received a harsh glare from Alice, 'I was actually coming down to the kitchens, then I was about to get you. Lily's in the common room, I decided to be the brilliant future boyfriend I am and cheer her up.'

'You're not as bad as I thought, Potter.' Alice told him, 'You go, James. I think she needs you.'

Alice still eyed him suspiciously, as if trying to work out his motives. After what felt like hours, she seemed to be satisfied and left. James could have sworn she smiled at him as she left.

Lily POV

'Oh Lillikins!' came a sing-song voice from the portrait hole, 'I'm baaaaaack!'

She turned and saw Potter re-entering the common room, without Marlene or Alice, yet he still had the promised icecream. Lily was seeing Potter in a new light, although he had five years of hatred to make up for.

'Where's Alice and Mar?' Lily asked him, yet still smiling.

'They couldn't make it; I was forced to take charge, as always.' He teased.

'Oh, my hero!' Lily proclaimed. She couldn't help but notice how much he'd changed lately, but in a rather good way…

_NO, LILY, NO, _she thought,_ JAMES POTTER? NO NO NO!_

James seemed to have noticed her staring at him, so he asked her, 'Like what you see, Evans?' with a raise of an eyebrow. But instead of beginning a long argument as she usually would, Lily settled for playfully hitting him on the arm and scowling.

_Wait a minute,_ she said to herself again,_ am I… __**flirting**__ with James Potter?_

But for the rest of the night, James was the perfect gentlemen, he sat there listening to every single thing she had to say, and just talked for hours about everything from O.W.L'S to home lives. He didn't once even try once to ask her out…

_Bloody hell,_ she kept saying to herself, _I can't possibly be fancying James Potter right now… NO, this can't happen!_


	2. Discoveries

James POV:

If he had enjoyed anything from the night earlier, it would have been realizing how easy it was to simply just talk to Lily… Yet when he had told Sirius this, he simply said 'Reason why you love Lily, number three hundred and eighty two.'

He was incredibly happy when he had successfully shown Evans the real James Potter, without trying to put the moves on her even once. He could remember the goodnight incredibly vividly…

'It's getting a bit late, I s'pose, James.' Lily told him.

'Did you just say what I think you did?' James began in a teasing voice, 'Did you actually just call me _James?_'

'I guess I did, but if you prefer Potter, its fine by me,' she laughed, 'Goodnight _James._'

She was halfway up the girls staircase when James called to her, 'If you need someone to talk to at all, I suppose I could be of assistance.' He told her with a smile. Lily nodded, so he decided to add, 'If you want to hang out with anyone as well, me and Pads should be able to suffice.'

Nothing surprised him more than when she ran down the staircase and hugged him, murmuring 'Thanks, Potter.'

'So, how'd it go with Evans?' James wasn't surprised at all to see that Sirius had been waiting for him to go up to his dorm, 'She finally say yes?'

'We just talked, Padfoot, that's all,' James assured him, yet when seeing his repetitive eyebrow raises, he elaborated, 'she was pretty upset, and I went to find Alice and Marlene for her, but Alice told me to stay with her instead… I didn't even ask her out once.'

'Wow Prongsie, finally manning up now are we?' Sirius teased, 'Finally over Evans?'

'If anything I probably like her more now, I didn't even know it was possible for me to have an actual conversation with her without getting hexed. And could you just be serious, for once in your life?'

'Now now, Jamesie, I'm Sirius all the time,' yet stopped joking after receiving James' glare, 'So you actually do like her then? She's not just a conquest? Damn, I s'pose I owe Moony five galleons…'

Lily POV:

She found herself waking up to a bunch of girls around her bed, whispering. Marlene realized her eyes were opening and hugged her.

'You okay?' she asked.

'Not really, but thanks.' Lily tried to smile but found it difficult. There was a silence between them, although it was not necessarily awkward.

'On a slightly happier note,' piped up Alice, 'where'd you go with James last night?'

The girls around them gasped, it seemed like everyone thought Lily a hero now.

'Mind out of the gutter, Alice,' she laughed, 'Nothing happened, we just talked.'

'…About?' Marlene stretched out the word in a teasing way, 'Tell us, tell us, tell us!'

'Well everything I guess, James was a good shoulder to cry on,' She had automatically realized her mistake when Marlene and Alice gasped.

'So it's James now, eh? Given up on called him Potter?' Alice said in an accusing voice, as if she knew something Lily didn't.

Lily had no response to the question, and when she looked over at her clock, it was already 8:30; lessons would start in half an hour. Lily swore under her breath and ran into the shower.

Ten minutes later, Lily re-entered her dorm to find that all the other girls had gone down to breakfast, but she didn't mind, there was only another fifteen minutes left to eat anyway.

She quickly let her wavy hair down after drying it with a flick of her wand, and almost sprinted to breakfast. Although she found her path blocked by someone at the portrait hole.

'Take your time, Evans,' he smirked.

'Oh, hey Potter, have you been to breakfast yet?'

'No, being the amazing guy I am, I decided to wait for you.'

Lily was tempted to use one of her usual insults, but for some reason she found she just couldn't. She smiled at James and began to walk to breakfast, although when she found that he wasn't following her walked back and dragged him by the hand.

_Wait a minute,_ she thought to herself yet again, _what am I even doing? Oh who cares…_

_But it's James Potter, Lily. This isn't normal._

_Ugh! But- _

_You're the one having an argument with yourself, just do what you want._

When they reached the Great Hall however, Lily found herself in trouble, she had no idea where to sit anymore. She stopped dead in her path, when James began to drag her instead.

He took her over to where Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting, with smug expressions on their faces; Lily thought she heard Sirius mutter 'About time…' when they came over.

After sitting down next to Potter, Lily realized the amount of girls gawping and scowling at her. James seemed to have noticed this as well and whispered, 'Don't worry about them, we'll protect you.'

'What's on the agenda today, Pads?' James inquired from Sirius.

'Ah, knew there was something I had to tell you, here's your timetable, Minnie gave them out before. And being the gentleman I am, I got Evans hers as well.' He replied, handing them the parchment.

'Wait a minute… Minnie?' Lily asked, confused.

'McGonagall,' Sirius answered, 'She acts like she hates us, but deep down, we know she loves us.'

Lily laughed and looked at her timetable. She had two free hours of study during her day, that wasn't too bad. She had potions first lesson, her favorite subject, at least she had something to look forward to.

With five minutes left of breakfast, Lily headed down to potions with James and Sirius.

'I take it since you hate potions, you want to be Aurors?' Lily asked them.

'Right you are, Evans,' James told her quietly as they entered the dungeon.

'Potter, Evans, Black, you're late,' Slughorn said, yet still smiling.

'Sorry professor!' called out Lily with a smile.

'Alright, take a seat then you three. Now as I was saying, class, this year, you'll have an assigned pairing of which I have chosen for you. I do this in hope that you will both learn from each other. Now the pairings are as follows; Marlene and Sirius, Alice and Peter, James and Lily, Severus and Arela…' he continued talking, yet people began to zone out once their names had been called.

James POV:

He couldn't believe his luck, what were the odds that he'd be partnered with Lily? He was extremely happy, not only because she was a great potions student, but he was also helplessly in love with her.

Lily seemed to have sensed his gaze on her, the skinny red head smiled at him and turned back to face Slughorn.

'Now that we're all in out pairs, we can start working on today's lesson. You'll be observing the effects of Amortentia, now, usually we don't do this until you're sixth years, but this group seems rather promising.' Slughorn boomed out with a look around the classroom.

Once there was a small cauldron on every table, they were told to analyze its look and smells.

'But it smells like vanilla and flowers? What kind of potion is this?' James asked Lily, although he was surprised to see her blush.

'It smells different to every person, depending on what attracts them.' Lily stifled a laugh.

'Ah, my mistake, then what does Lils here smell?' he asked her teasingly.

'Lils?'

'Mmhm.'

'I suppose that name isn't too bad.' Lily laughed.

'Now, now Lils, wouldn't be avoiding the question, would we?'

'Not at all, for the record I smell grass, broom polish and cologne, problem?' Lily asked him.

James realized that it was him, even if Lily didn't, so he just smirked and said, 'Not at all.'

Lily POV:

Lily had spent the remainder of the lesson writing down the affects and appearance of Amortentia, yet she took regular stops to ponder who she had smelt in the Amortentia.

The rest of the week went by relatively quickly for her, and she found out that she had the same classes as James and Sirius of which made her schoolwork more enjoyable.

By the end of the week, Lily had a whole new opinion of the marauders, she even began to respect them due to the amount of intelligence of which went into their pranks.

Although Lily found that she was closer to James than to anyone else at Hogwarts, not only did she find this extremely unpredictable, but she also found it slightly nice and… comforting.

As the year went on, Lily found herself growing close and closer to the marauders, and also began to be suspicious of their plans once a month… Severus had told her once… but it couldn't possibly be true…

During the last week of their fifth year, Lily noticed that the four boys she had grown so close to were nowhere to be found… and it was also a full moon.

Even if Remus was a werewolf, surely James, Sirius and Peter wouldn't go running around with him…

Unless…

No, it couldn't possibly be… That was illegal…

But their nicknames…

Moony of course made sense, Wormtail was the first of the other three for Lily to see the connection…

Padfoot and Prongs?...

Lily looked out of the common room window and saw a stag and big black dog running around and chasing each other.

She had definitely underestimated their intelligence. Lily decided to wait in her dorm for the boys to come back, and to tell them she knew. Surely she would hear the portrait hole open.

Around five in the morning, the moon had vanished and Lily quietly made her way down the stairs to find Remus lying on the couch, looking broken.

'Hi, Lily,' he said to her as she came in, 'I'm just not feeling too great at the moment, bit of a cold…' he trailed off.

Lily sat beside him and whispered, 'Remus… I know.'

'I figured you'd work it out soon enough…'

'And the other three… are they really animagi?'

Remus nodded, 'Just promise not to tell… I don't care if you never want to talk to me again; I'm a terrible excuse for a person.'

'Remus!' Lily shrieked, 'You're one of the nicest people I know! You really think that I'd hate you for this? And I'd never tell anyone!'

'Thanks Lily,' he smiled, 'it means a lot.'

They sat there for a little while, as Lily tried to heal some of Remus' injuries, when something in her mind clicked.

'That's why the whomping willows there, isn't it?'

Remus nodded and said 'You're cleverer than I thought, Lily.'

'Hopefully clever enough to have passed my O.…'

We smiled at each other and Lily stayed sitting with him until he had fallen asleep. As she went to leave however, and hand grabbed hers.

'Black?'

'Evans... thanks.' He smiled at her.

'What do you mean?'

'You know what I mean, Lily.'

She hugged him briefly and left.

* * *

_**So there you go, chapter 2. I have quite a bit of the story left to upload that's I've already written, I'll try to post a chapter every day. Don't forget to review!**_


	3. Goodbye and Hello

James POV:

James woke up the next day to see Sirius standing in front of a mirror, attempting to perfect his hair.

'Oh Padfoot, you look pretty no matter what you do with your hair.' James told him in a sweet tone.

'Oh Prongsie, I knew I loved you for a reason!' Sirius replied while blowing him a kiss.

'I always knew you guys were gay for each other…' said a voice from behind them that he recognized immediately.

'Lils, how'd you get up here?' James asked her.

'Oh, I walked up the stairs,' She replied in a voice that one would use when talking to a 5 year old, 'But I did come up here for a reason, is Remus alright? We have to go down to the prefect meeting soon.'

'Evans, why are you so nice to us?' James asked.

'Well I think the question really is, why are you guys nice to me… Considering the four years of hell I gave you.' Lily laughed slightly and smiled.

Lily POV:

'So you don't care that we're illegal animagi?' James asked her with a worried look on his face.

'Well of course I care about it, but I was more impressed than anything when I worked it out.' She smiled.

'Lily, you're honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met!' James ran over and gripped her in a big bear hug.

At that point Lily realized two things, and only one of them was important to her.

The first, was that James was in nothing but a pair of shorts… But she didn't care so much about that.

What did interest her however, was the second thing. James' smell. Grass, broom polish, and cologne. Shit.

James POV:

James stood there embracing Lily, inhaling her scent of vanilla and flowers. He had noticed Sirius walking out and raising his eyebrows at James and Lily.

James and Lily… When he thought about it, it sounded so right… He was in love with her, and surely she had at least some minute feelings for him…

All too soon for either of their liking, the hug broke apart. They stood there, staring at each other for a while, yet it wasn't awkward.

'Look, James…' she began, and with a pained look at him walked a few steps back and said, 'We only have a few days left of being at Hogwarts for fifth year… I-I-… I'm not good with the whole 'feelings' thing, but I think it would be best if you just forgot about me… J-just go and find a random girl to snog senseless.'

He watched as Lily walked from the dorm, and he could have sworn tears were fighting to fall from her eyes.

But he couldn't just forget about her… She was Lily Evans.

For the last two days at Hogwarts, he and Lily had not talked at all, and they hadn't said goodbye at the platform either... It was killing the both of them, but neither would admit it to the other.

The holidays went by extremely slowly for James, sure, being with Sirius made them ten times funnier, but he felt terrible about Lily and the fact that they hadn't contacted at all.

Lily POV:

Lily's time away from Hogwarts had never been so boring and terrible. Petunia was meaner than ever, but more importantly, she had absolutely no friends left in the world.

She'd left the marauders, Severus no longer cared about her, and Alice and Marlene barely ever talked to her.

She had nothing left anywhere; she just hoped that by some stroke of luck, James would contact her… But she'd told him to forget about her… She had no idea as to whether she had feelings for him or not.

The only thing that cheered her up were the results she had received for her O., she had received all Outstandings and was relieved to see that at least something was going right.

Finally, weeks later, it was time to go back to Hogwarts for sixth year. At eight in the morning, Lily was woken not by her alarm, but by an owl on the window seal.

She had already received her O.W.L results, who would want to talk to her?

Lily flung herself out of bed and ran to reach the owl. She saw the messy handwriting of which had written 'Lily Evans' and took the letter from the owl. Quickly filling up a bowl with water and placing it in front of the deliverer, she sat down and opened the letter.

'_Lillikins (you love it, I'm sure),_

_Before you throw this away and say that you hate me and whatnot, I just thought I'd tell you that I didn't do what you told me to. Rebellious, eh?_

_But Siriusly, (yes, I will make that pun forever), we need to talk, and maybe on the train we could meet up and do that._

_Evans, don't glare at the parchment, it never did anything to you. _

_Look Lily, I just want to be friends here, we had a really good friendship… and it would suck if that ended._

_-From the most amazing bloke in the world, who you also know as James Potter.'_

Lily re-read the letter twice before writing back.

'_Potter (or do you prefer Jamilia? I suppose it sounds pretty),_

_I guess you're right; we shouldn't just ignore each other._

_I'll meet you at the station, but put the moves on me once and you will die a most painful death._

_-Lily.'_

Lily place the letter into the waiting owl's mouth, and quickly turned her alarm off as it was seconds away from beeping very loudly. Grudgingly, but very smugly, Lily prepared herself for what was going to be a long day.

James POV:

He received Lily's reply and almost jumped with joy, this was going to be a good day, in his opinion.

Hours later, he had arrived at Kings Cross Station with Sirius and James' mother. As they ran through the barrier and were at platform 9 and 3/4, James' eyes landed on fiery red hair.

Lily Evans.

'I'll be back, mum.' He told her and Sirius as he ran over to her with his trunk levitating behind him.

Lily POV:

Lily was finally at the platform, going back to Hogwarts; to home.

She found Alice and Marlene and had begun to greet them when a pair of strong hands wrapped around her waist and turned her around.

'Missed me, Evans?'

'It could be possible, Potter…' she laughed as she hugged him.

They both turned back to find that Alice and Marlene were staring at them with raised eyebrows and smirks.

'Now, now,' the voice of Sirius came from behind them, 'Finally admitting your undying love, are you?'

James and Lily both hit him on the head lightly, yet it was enough for him to shut up.

'Well well,' said another voice, everyone turned to see who it had come from. The woman of which had spoken looked so much like James that it was uncanny, Lily supposed this was his mother, 'Little Jamesie wouldn't be leaving without saying goodbye to his dear Mummy, would he?'

'I was literally five seconds away from finding you,' James persisted.

His mother just laughed and said, 'Yeah, right.'

The woman must have realized who Lily was, as her eyes widened and she said, 'So this is the Lily I've heard so much about!'

Lily felt herself blush and said, 'Whatever he's told you, I swear it isn't true.'

They all laughed, at least that broke the tension.

After a good conversation with James' mum, Lily found herself on the train, sitting with James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice, and Marlene.

While Alice and Marlene sat in and held a whispered conversation, and Remus, Peter and Sirius played a loud game of exploding snap, James and Lily were sitting in a corner and having a conversation about anything and everything.

Lily was hoping for it to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

**_So here's chapter three... don't forget to review, I'll give you my eternal love and affection xoxoxoxoxoxx_**


	4. Train and Home

James POV:

He sat there with Lily for the whole train ride, doing nothing but talking. He found it amazing how easily the conversation flowed, and how they never ran out of anything to talk about.

They were talking about NEWTs preparation when Lily jumped up and cursed loudly, managing to get everyone's attention.

'Remus, we were supposed to go to the prefect's compartment hours ago!' she told him.

'Oh crap!' he said and followed her out.'

Lily POV:

They ran into the compartment to find that only Frank Longbottom remained.

'Oh Frank, I'm so sorry, we completely forgot-'

'Lily, its fine,' he smiled at them.

'I take it you've been made head boy?' Lily asked him.

'Would you expect anything less from me, Lily?' they laughed.

'See you around, Frank.' She smiled and they left.

After they left, Remus asked Lily, 'So what's going on between you and James?'

He looked at her as if it was a rhetorical question, and the answer was obvious.

'Absolutely nothing, we're just friends.' Lily told him.

'Suuuure…' Remus muttered, 'Do you two even know how perfect you are together?'

Lily blushed and said 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

Remus laughed at her and knew that she and James would be together eventually.

They reached the other at last and found that they had less than an hour left of the train ride before they would arrive at Hogwarts.

'Oh Alice,' Lily called as she sat next to James again, 'Guess who's head boy?'

'Enlighten me…'

'Your little lover, Frankie,' Lily teased.

'There is nothing going on between me and Frank!' Alice defended, turning red.

'The lady doth protests too much, me thinks.' James and Lily said at the same time, then high-fived.

'Oh like you two can talk,' Alice murmured, yet it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Thankfully for the two, no one pressed to topic of James and Lily, and they all went back to their original activities.

James POV:

'You know Shakespeare?' Lily asked him once they were yet again sitting rather closely in their corner.

'Always the tone of surprise, Evans.'

They both laughed and edged closer to each other, their lips centimeters away.

The train stopped abruptly and they all went flying forwards and realized that it was time to leave the train and take the carriages to Hogwarts.

They left the train in their robes and walked down from Hogsmeade station. As James walked with the marauders and Lily walked with Alice and Marlene, Sirius began to question him.

'Well that was an interesting train ride,' Sirius smirked.

James figured it would be best if he just played innocent, 'Padfoot, whatever do you mean?'

'Don't bullshit me, Prongs, I saw what happened.'

'Oh do tell this interesting tale, Padfoot,' Remus piped up, 'Do tell us what happened.'

'Well Moony, Jamesie here almost planted one on Evans.'

Lily POV:

'You almost _what!'_ Marlene shrieked as Lily told them what had happened, 'Well it's about bloody time, Lils!'

'It doesn't necessarily mean anything, guys, I mean maybe the train stopped then for a reason, maybe it's just not meant to happen.' Lily tried to explain.

'Lils, we love you and all, but right now you're crazy. The boy loves you for god sakes, and you know deep down that you love him too.' Alice told her smoothly.

_Shit, maybe I do love him, _Lily told herself, _but surely he can't still feel that way about me after 5 years?_

Lily sighed and tried to have a normal conversation with them, although for the whole carriage ride, there was a certain messy haired boy on her mind.

When Lily stepped out of the carriage however, she gasped. How had she never noticed the thestrals pulling the carriage before? But of course, she had never seen death until the Christmas holidays of her fourth year.

'So I'm not going crazy then?' James asked from behind her.

James POV:

'You can see them too…?' Lily asked as he nodded.

'My dad's an auror, one night after a mission he brought one of his department workers home, because they couldn't get him to St Mungo's in time… But they were too late.' James explained to her.

'Oh… I'm so sorry…'

'It's alright, I guess I didn't really know the guy that well… it was just a shock for me.'

The two stood there in silence for a moment before Lily said; 'We should go up to the castle…'

He nodded in agreement and they both set off towards the castle.

They were nearing the entrance hall when Lily said 'It was my dad. During the Christmas holidays of fourth year.'

James hadn't expected this from Lily, he noticed that her eyes were getting teary, so he swiftly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

_Reason why I love Lily Evans, number 383; how brave and strong she is_. James thought to himself.

'…You okay?' he asked her in a whisper.

'No,' she whispered back.

James watched her as she lifted her head from his chest and their faces inched closer once more, they were millimeters away when the doors of the entrance hall opened and they jumped away from each other.

Thankfully it was only Sirius that had intruded upon them.

'Thought I'd find you eventually, Prongsie.' Sirius told him, 'Evans? Would you like the pleasure of telling me what's going on here?'

'Absolutely nothing, Black,' Lily spoke to him as if he was a three year old of which could barely understand the English language.

'Watch your tone, Evans,' Sirius told her in a teasing voice, 'we wouldn't want Minnie wondering where you are, would we?'

James and Lily began to run inside, Sirius close behind them. They were just outside the entrance hall when James stopped them and pulled something out of his pocket.

'Ah, good idea Jamesie,' Sirius told him.

'That's an invisibility cloak, isn't it?' Lily asked them.

'Maybe it is…,' James said as he put it over himself and Sirius, '..or maybe it isn't.'

He held out the remainder of the cloak to Lily, and she willingly walked into the hall invisibly.

They walked to where Remus and Peter were sitting with Alice and Marlene, and sat down after taking the cloak off very subtly.

Lily POV:

'When did you guys get here?' Alice asked in amazement.

'Alice dear, you must have been too busy staring at Frank to notice us sitting here the whole time.' James told her sweetly.

'Oh, Lily! I forgot to tell you! Frank and I-'

'Confessed your undying love for each other?' Finished James and Lily in unison.

'We're on a roll tonight!' Lily told him as they high-fived.

'Well it was a bit different… but you could put it that way…' said Alice quietly.

'Alice! That's adorable! And it's about time too!' Lily laughed.

She was surprised when everyone around her except for James began to stare at her.

'Lily… we've waited a while to ask this…' Marlene began, 'What's going between the two of you?'

She flickered her gaze to James briefly.

'What? Nothing!' they both said at the same time, high-fiving again.

'See? Those cute little things you do? You're so obviously perfect for each other!' Alice told them.

They both went red and tried to hide it with their hands, Lily tried to distract them by pointing out that the sorting had begun, which had efficiently shut them up long enough for James and Lily to escape by means of the cloak.

With the cloak off, they headed back to the common room and saw that their things had all been brought up; it was good to be home.

Just like on the train, they sat together on one of the lounges, and talked for hours while waiting for everyone to get back from dinner.

'Y'now how people sometimes say _third time lucky_, Evans?' James enquired.

'Mmhm?'

'Well, _third time lucky._' He said as they moved closer to each other once more, their lips touched this time, for a millisecond, when the portrait hole opened and a bunch of fellow sixth years came in, catching them.

Even though they hadn't even achieved a peck on the lips, Lily and James had both still felt fireworks.

James POV:

He had always known he had felt something special for Lily, but he had not been expecting to get fireworks just from being so close to her.

'Well well well, Prongsie, Evans, something you'd like to tell us at all?' Sirius asked with a smirk on his face.

'Nothing at all, Sirius.' They answered in unison yet again, high-fiving.

Sirius and the other two marauders shot him a look, which he knew meant 'We'll talk about this later'. The same thing seemed to be happening with the girls.

* * *

_**There you go, chapter four, I've got about the next ten chapters already written, but I'll only upload one or two a day.**_

_**Reviews = my love and affection!**_


	5. Almosts and Confessions

Lily POV:

Over the next few weeks, she and James had not talked as much as they usually did… Mainly because of the amount of tension between the two, but also because of the amount of homework they were being set. Lily did notice however, that when they did talk, they seemed to be a lot flirtier than usual…

They walked to potions together, discussing the upcoming quiddinch match against Ravenclaw.

'You're captain now, aren't you? How did choosing the team go?'

'Not too bad actually, I'm pretty happy with the choices…'

They kept talking until they were allowed into the dungeons, where they found a round Slughorn waiting for them.

'Hello class! Sit down if you please…'

There was the usual scurry of chairs as everyone sat down; Lily sat herself next to James, as usual.

'Now, as we will be yet again working with Amortentia this year, although I wish to bring it to the next level in the following ways. Firstly, you will be working in the same partners as last year, due to the fact that we have the same students. Secondly, you will need to create your own vile of this potion, with a written essay on its affects and how each ingredient affects the potions development. This will be due in a month's time, as it takes three weeks to create the potion, you may start this assignment now.'

'Well then, partner, I suppose we should get started.' Lily smiled at him.

'Alright Lils, I'll go get the stuff we need.' James walked off, this left Lily wondering… Was she beginning to like James?

She thought back to the fireworks she had felt the other week… yes, yes she was.

Lily attempted to re-focus as James came walking back to her.

'I think this is everything,' he said, as he double checked his potion book.

Lily couldn't help to take occasional glances at him while they worked; she noticed that he was always propped up on his left hand, and that he put his tongue between his teeth when he concentrated.

But it wasn't like she was paying close attention to him or anything…

James POV:

During that potions class, James began to remember why he had fallen for Lily in the first place, he seemed to have remembered ever single reason why he loved her.

He noticed how she frowned slightly when she focused, how she always tilted her head when confused.

But it wasn't like he was paying close attention to her or anything…

After potions, the two of them had already finished half of the essay and had begun their potion. They walked through the portrait hole to find that Sirius had arrived earlier, and found him in a rather odd circumstance.

'…Maybe we should go.' Lily suggested. James nodded in agreement and began to walk up the boy's staircase, with Lily following.

They reached James' dorm and Lily sat herself in a chair by his bed, when she finally burst out, 'Sirius and Marlene! I wasn't expecting that at all!'

Lily POV:

'Well actually… they're kind of good together.' James said, deep in thought, 'I mean… they're always at each other's throats, I suppose Sirius must have just lost it during one of their arguments and… well I think you understand what I'm saying.'

'Holy crap…' Lily said, 'They're actually perfect together! Never thought that would-'

'Now Prongsie, you wouldn't be bringing girls up into our dorm, would you?' came Sirius' teasing voice.

'And I suppose Marlene's right behind you, is she?' James and Lily spoke in unison yet again… and high-fived.

'We are just too good!' James said to her.

Lily laughed and addressed Sirius, 'Now were you planning to tell us at any point?'

'Well honestly, not really…' Sirius tried to use his charm to help him out of this one.

'Now now, Sirius, you forget your charm doesn't work on me… But I suppose it's my duty to go and find Marlene… Bye, guys.'

And with that Lily left, still shocked by what she and James had seen.

'Hey Remus, where've you been lately?' Lily asked when she had seen him across the common room.

'I've pretty much been camping out in the library for the past few weeks; I've been stressing out a bit with the workload… Plus, there's a full moon tonight as well…'

'I'll wait up for you guys, in case you scratch yourself up too bad.' She smiled at him.

'Thanks, Lily.'

James POV:

'Okay Prongs,' Remus announced, 'You and Lily have to get married and have hundreds of kids!'

James laughed and said, 'Why the sudden encouragement?'

'Dude she's _perfect_ for you!'

'Well I knew that, didn't I?' James smiled. 'Cheers, Moony.'

'By the way, she said she'd wait up for us tonight. In case we needed healing.' Remus informed him.

'Jesus, she's perfect.' Said James as he collapsed onto one of the comfiest seat in the common room.

Lily POV:

'So Sirius?' Lily said to Marlene.

'So James?' Marlene replied.

'Oh please, Mar, there's nothing going on between-'

'You say that now, but I shotgun being your maid of honour at your wedding with him.' Marlene teased.

'You're just trying to change the subject…' Lily accused, 'So what is actually going on between you and Sirius?'

'Well, I don't really know… We were just having a row as usual… then he kissed me… but I don't know if we really have a title…'

'We thought so-' Lily said.

'We?' Marlene began to tease, 'You wouldn't happen to mean you and James... would you? Ooh! You're a 'we' now! I knew something was going on between the two of you!'

'Mar, I swear for the millionth time, James and I are just good friends. And I wouldn't be so mean; both of us agreed that you two are extremely cute together.' Lily laughed.

'Ooh so you're an 'us' now-'

'Mar, calm your hippogriff. I'll put this as plainly as I can… James. Lily. Nothing happening. Plain enough for you?'

'Lils, you know I love you- Wait a minute… Lily, you say nothing's going on between the two of you… but you haven't said… Lils, do you have feelings for James?' Marlene whispered.

'I- No- Yes- Maybe- I don't know- Ugh!' Lily fell onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow. 'I think I do.'

'Well, it's about time you realized!' Marlene laughed.

Lily tried to laugh with her but realized that she was too tired.

'I s'pose we should go down to dinner, then?' Marlene asked.

'Yeah… Just don't say anything to anyone about- about what I just told you…'Lily begged.

'I love you too much to do that, Lils.' Marlene hugged her.

The pair made their way through the portrait hole and within five minutes reached the great hall, to find Alice and Frank looking extremely happy.

'Ooh, Alice! What's the goss?' Marlene squeaked.

'Frank said he loves me!' Alice squealed.

'Speaking of love, guess what Lily said befo- OUCH!' Marlene giggled after Lily had elbowed her.

'Mar! You promised you wouldn't tell!' Lily said sadly. But before any of them could press the topic, the four marauders came and sat with the three girls. They shared a look of which meant that they were to talk in code.

'Well Alice, Lily here told me that she reciprocated certain things.' Marlene said.

_Oh god,_ Lily thought as she turned bright red, _did she want to make it any more obvious?_

'Ooh, Mar, well that's very interesting, don't you think, Lily?' Alice teased.

'Lily thinks that she should never confide in Marlene again, she also thinks that talking in third person is fun.' She smiled.

'Marlene is sorry, although Alice would have found out eventually. Marlene and agrees with Lily, and thinks that talking in third person really is fun.'

'James thinks that you're all idiots, and that you should eat your dinner.' Potter laughed.

Lily and James smiled at each other and resumed eating.

* * *

_**Chapter 5...**_

_**Reviews = Cookies and Elmo hugs...**_


	6. Christmas Part 1

James POV:

James spent the whole of dinner wondering what the girls were talking about, yet decided not to press the topic any longer.

He, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed out to the whomping willow, where Peter changed into his animagus form and hit the correct branch so as to let them pass safely.

They came back later that night, all sporting small injuries and cuts, to find Lily alone in the common room and working on the Amortentia.

Obviously having heard them come in, Lily said, 'Everything go alright, guys? Oh, the potions only got a couple more days until its ready.'

'Just a few scratches here and there, but we all really feel like crap,' Sirius said.

'That's why I made you guys this,' she said as she held up a vile of healing potion, 'Just have a few drops each and you'll feel better, and have this too.' Lily held out a bar of Honeydukes chocolate.

_Reason why I love Lily Evans, number 384, how caring she is_… James thought to himself.

Lily POV:

She had spent the night in the common room, making both of the potions and making sure that she stay awake.

Lily was relieved when the portrait hole opened and the four boys came through, with no obvious injuries. She passed each of them a glass of potion and two squares of chocolate.

'Better?' she asked once they'd finished.

'Much.' They replied as one, but they didn't high-five as James and Lily usually did, but she supposed it was their thing.

'Love you, Evans.' Sirius said.

'Trying the moves on me, are you?' Lily asked.

'And if I am…' Sirius teased as he moved closer to her.

Lily had a plan hatch in her head, a brilliant one in her opinion. She leant into Sirius, away that the other three behind them were watching with raised eyebrows. They were centimeters apart when Lily slapped him across the face.

'And that is as far as you will ever get with me, Black.' Lily smiled deviously.

'Feeling the love, Evans.' He pouted.

Lily laughed and high-fived James… as usual, and received an impressed look from Remus and Peter.

'Well, we've all wanted to slap him for years, at least someone finally did it.' James smirked.

The next few weeks went extremely well for Lily, she and James had aced their potions assignment, both getting O's.

Not only had she been getting outstanding results in every subject, but she also had more friends at Hogwarts than ever before. She also found that she was particularly close to one person, of which knew her better than anyone. It was the boy with messy black hair and wire rimmed glasses, which she loved.

_Whoa wait a minute,_ she thought to herself, _Loved?_

_Well everyone kept telling you it would happen one day._

_Yes, but… James?_

_Yes James._

_Shut up._

_You're telling yourself to shut up, idiot._

'Lily, you okay?' James' voice said from behind her as she suddenly remembered that she was in the common room for a reason.

'Yea, just working on my transfiguration homework.' She sighed.

'Changing a bird into a bell? Here, I'll help. Show me what you've done so far.'

Lily muttered the incantation and focused with all her might, yet the bird did nothing but emit a dinging noise instead of a chirp.

'Here,' James said as he grabbed her arm, 'You're just making the wrong hand movements, try it this way.'

And with that Lily muttered the incantation again, this time successfully transfiguring the bird into a functioning bell.

'Cheers, Jamesie!' Lily thanked him.

'…Jamesie?'

'I thought it would annoy you.' She smiled.

'And if I said it doesn't…?' James asked her teasingly.

'Well then I'll call you Jamesie anyway, because deep down you hate it.' Lily laughed.

'There's just no winning with you, is there?' James laughed, 'But we really should go down to dinner.'

She agreed and walked with him to the great hall.

In the short five minute walk, Lily realized something. She was in love with James Potter.

James POV:

James was falling for Lily Evans harder than ever, he just needed the right time to tell her.

In the meanwhile, however, they were partnered together every potions class, and helped each other at their weak subjects in any way possible.

When they had two weeks left of school, James found himself in Defense against the Dark Arts with Lily and Sirius, attempting to conjure patronus'.

Sirius had achieved his on the first attempt, creating a large black dog of which ran over the room and began to bark at Marlene.

'20 points for originality…' Lily teased him. Sirius grinned back at her.

James had finally chosen a happy memory, one of him and Lily just talking. Just talking… But it was his favorite memory.

'_Expecto Patronum_!' he said forcefully, and a great stag leapt out of his wand.

'20 for you as well, I suppose…' Lily began to tease James as well.

'Alright then Evans, let's see what you come up with…' he told her.

'Fine then…' James notice her temporary pause, it seemed as if she was trying to think of a memory. '_Expecto Patronum_!'

A great doe came flying out from the end of her wand

'Interesting choice…' Sirius sniggered.

'Oh, shut up.' Lily murmured.

_A female deer?_ Thought James, _Maybe she does like me…_

At last it was time for the Christmas holidays, and it seemed as if Lily and James would be the only Gryffindors left in the castle.

James' parents had gone away for the holidays, and Lily had told him that Petunia warned her not to return home.

'I really don't understand why Petunia hates you, Lils,' he told Lily as they walked backed to the castle after seeing the other off.

'I think it started when I got my Hogwarts letter… She was upset… and maybe a little jealous too, but she just started calling me a freak all the time, and hasn't stopped… And now she's with some guy called Vernon, and she's got him convinced that I go off to some boarding school for mentally challenged people…' Lily explained.

James smiled at her and said, 'I reckon lunch will be ready soon, maybe we should go down as see if we're the only ones left at Hogwarts.'

Out of the blue, Lily asked, 'James… doesn't Sirius live with you?'

'Yea, whys that?'

'Where did he go for Christmas?'

'Ah, he normally comes home with me, but when mum and dad went on holidays and we couldn't go back, he decided he'd had enough of the castle for a semester and went to stay with Remus.'

'Why didn't you go with him?' Lily asked, but elaborated when James raised his eyebrows, 'Not that I'm complaining at all.' She smiled.

'Well firstly, you really think I'd make you stay at Hogwarts by yourself? And secondly, Hogwarts Christmases are more fun anyways.'

Lily hugged him and said 'Thanks, Potter.'

Feeling incredibly smug, James walked back to the great hall with Lily.

For the first time since either of them had been at Hogwarts, the hall was completely deserted. They were the only two left at school.

Lily POV:

She had never once gone home for the Christmas holiday, and she had never been the only one left there. Usually, there were about five students left from every house… But there was a war going on, as much as no one wanted to admit it. And families would have wanted to all stay together.

'Ah, James, Lily,' Dumbledore called from the other end of the hall, 'it seems as if you two were the only people of whom wished to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Do enjoy yourselves.' He finished with a slight nod and a knowing look.

She and James took a seat in the middle of the Gryffindor bench, where James asked her excitedly, 'So what do we do first!'

'I was just going to go to the library, and study up on some of the ancient runes work I'll be doing when everyone gets back-'

'Lily,' said James seriously, 'we have the whole of Hogwarts to ourselves, and you want to go to the _library_.'

'Well I just thought-' Lily began, but before she could finish her sentence James had begun to drag her off and out of the hall.

'Potter, I insist to know where you're taking me,' Lily told him as she was dragged down a corridor she had never seen before.

'C'mon Evans, no kind of prize a _sur_prise!' James beamed at her them added, 'We're almost there, Lils.'

James POV:

He kept walking with his hand in Lily's until he reached the seventh floor. James placed his hand loosely over her eyes to stop her seeing his plan.

'Now do you really think that's necessary?' Lily smiled. James just laughed at her and walked them up and down the corridor three times.

'So now you're trying to make me dizzy so that I'll forget where I am?'

'Shush, Evans, and walk.'

He took his hand away from her eyes and smirked when she gasped quietly.

'This is the room of requirement, isn't it?' Lily asked him slowly.

* * *

_**Here's my sad attempt at an update... more will be up soon!**_

_**Reviews = Honeydukes chocolate!**_


	7. Christmas Part 2 and Emmeline

_**Wow it's been a long time since I've updated, I'm sorry (assuming anyone still reads this...)**_

_**Okay so quick recap of what went on last chapter:**_

**_So pretty much James is being his amazing self and charming the pants off Lily (as usual) and I think it was last chapter that he took her flying. Yada, yada, yada... And now they're in the Room of Requirement. _**

**_Let it begin!_**

Lily POV:

She looked around at her surroundings and was amazed; the room had presented itself to them as the ultimate fort. Blankets hung themselves from all over the room, and in the centre lay two leather chairs next to a bottle of firewhisky.

'Okay, Evans,' James began to tell her, 'time for a fun game!'

'Oh god…' Lily muttered.

'Whoa, Lils, don't get too excited there… But we'll play I have never!' James beamed.

'And this works, how?'

'Well Evans, we get two glasses, fill them with firewhisky, and then one of us says 'I have never done something'. For instance, if you were to say 'I have never become and animagus', I would need to drink. And if one of us doesn't drink, the rim of the glass glows blue, and the denier has to take double shots… Sound like fun?'

'I suppose…'

They sat down and began drinking; James said 'I'll start.'

Lily nodded in encouragement and sat down with him.

'Okay… I have never gone skinny dipping.'

The both of them drank to that one.

'A bit rebellious, Evans.' James teased her.

Lily shushed him and carried on in the game, 'I have never… had sex.'

Neither of them drank.

'Hmm, surprising.' Lily said.

James fake gasped and said, 'I'm offended, Evans! I've never even had a girlfriend!'

'Oh please, like you haven't…'

'I've had… snogging partners… that's it.'

They both laughed and carried on with the game.

'I have never…' James paused in thought, '…been in love.'

'God you're tacky, Potter.' Lily told him as they both downed their glasses, neither of them questioning the other.

The two of them sat there playing the game for hours, until Lily looked outside to find that the sun had begun to set over the castle.

'Wow, we've been here all day, we better get to dinner.' James told her.

She agreed and saw that the great hall had been rearranged so that there was a large rectangular table sitting in the middle of the vast space. Lily was used to this of course, as they had usually done this every Christmas holidays, James on the other hand, looked amazed by how large the great hall was when emptied.

She and James took seats on the closest bench to the door and noticed that none of the teachers had yet appeared for the meal. This did not go unquestioned by either of them, so they decided to investigate by going out into the entrance hall.

Lily felt her heart break.

Death eaters. At Hogwarts.

There were only about ten of them when Lily did a quick head count, but there were only four teachers trying attempting to fight them.

No one in the small battle seemed to have noticed the two of them, so Lily decided to prove that she was a Gryffindor.

'James, none of them know we're here. Let's act from behind here, so that we aren't directly in the battle, and we might be able to confuse them long enough for the teachers to stun them.'

'Alright Evans, let's do this. On the count of three, we'll spend stunning spells.'

'One… two… three.' They said together, and then shouted '_Stupefy_!' Hitting two of the intruders squarely on their backs, they fell to the ground.

Lily's plan was working. The remaining eight death eaters had turned, allowing the teachers to quickly stun them. 6 down, 4 to go.

Clearly confused, two death eaters walked around the corner to face their attacker, although Lily and James were both too quick for them, '_Stupefy_!' they both shouted. The two death eaters crumbled to the floor.

8 down, 2 to go.

As Lily and James turned the corner to check if the remaining two death eaters had been defeated, a sight that made both Lily's and James' stomachs churn.

Lord Voldemort was at Hogwarts.

In the entrance hall.

'Ah, Miss Evans is it? And Mr Potter, too? I was wondering when I'd get the privilege of meeting the two of you. You see… I have a proposition for you. I wish for you to join me.'

'We'll never join you!' The two yelled in unison.

_**Once defied him.**_

James pointed his wand towards him, but Lily pushed his arm down. She moved closer to Voldemort.

'You aren't as invincible as you think. They could easily be destroyed. Once they are, you'll die just like any other man.' Lily spoke directly to Voldemort. Lily watched his eyes widen, then narrow at Lily.

'I thought that someone may figure it out one day… although I never suspected a mudblood to be of such intelligence-'

'Now Tom, we must use our manners.' Said a voice from behind James and Lily.

Dumbledore. Surely they were saved now. Lily and James moved to opposite sides in order for Dumbledore to face the heavily cloaked man.

'_It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom. The aurors are on their way.' (A/N: Sound familiar?)_

'_By which time I will be gone, and you,' he gestured to Dumbledore, 'shall be dead.'_

Dumbledore flicked his wand and the teachers as well as James and Lily had been pushed against the wall by an invisible barrier. In the meanwhile, Dumbledore and Voldemort had begun to duel.

It was one of the most magnificent things Lily had ever seen, she had seen some brilliant magic in her years at Hogwarts, but she had never seen magic used like this.

Voldemort was creating great waves of fire from his wand, shaped like a serpent, and Dumbledore was creating a transparent shield that was surely made out of water.

The cloaked man stared at Dumbledore in both hatred and amazement, it was clear that he had expected for Dumbledore to not know how to defend himself against this branch of dark magic.

Dumbledore seemed to have realized this, and said, 'Now, Tom. Do you really think that the headmaster of this school would not know how to through off fiendfyre?'

Voldemort opened his mouth and looked as if he was about to answer, when the signature pop noise of an apparition was heard from a distant corridor.

'You will pay, Dumbledore… as will you, mudblood.' And with a sweep of his cloak, he was gone.

'Well then, James, Lily, if you wish to return to the great hall and finish your meal. In the mean time I shall give instructions to the aurors regarding the schools protection. I shall talk to the two of you later in the night.'

James POV:

He and Lily walked back to Gryffindor tower, as both of them had lost their appetite. Neither of them were talking, it seemed as if they were both attempting to take in what they had just witnessed.

'James,' Lily began, 'you're probably wondering what I was saying to him, about being invincible…'

He just nodded slightly in encouragement for her to carry on.

'Okay… I'm not exactly sure where to start, or why I even know what they are… but I'll start with this. Some wizards will go to extraordinary lengths to make themselves immortal, or their idea of invincible. One of the ways to do this is to make what's called a Horcrux. A Horcrux allows the creator to split their soul into an object, therefore the object being the Horcrux. It's a long and complicated thing to explain, but to summarize it I'll tell you this; I've had suspicions that he had created a few back when I had first heard the term while reading in the library… its one of the foulest things a person can do. You can only create the Horcrux by… by killing.'

He wrapped Lily into a tight hug and was amazed that a wizard would ever dream of doing such a thing to one's soul.

'I understand completely… but Lily, this seems like really dark magic… how did you find out about it to begin with?'

'I heard Snape talking about some type of dark magic with some Slytherins a while back… so I went to the library to see if I should even bother trusting him anymore, so I found a book in the restricted section that I thought could help… it was terrible. Some of the worst magic I had ever heard of was in there… and then I came across the term and saw the brief description… I knew he'd done it…'

The portrait hole opened and Dumbledore stepped through.

'If the two of you wish to see me if my office, please follow me.' The aged man told them kindly.

He and Lily nodded as they stepped out of Gryffindor tower and walked silently until they had reached the gargoyle outside of Dumbledore's office.

'Lemon Drops.' He told the statue, and it moves aside to allow them to enter his office.

As the two of them took seats in front of Dumbledore's desk, the wise man in front of them began to pace.

'I understand that what you have witnessed this evening would have come as a shock, but I would like you both to know that I personally believe that the two of you behaved admirably.

'Thankyou, Professor.' Lily said.

'I thought I should tell the both of you that the schools protection has been upgraded, and that the Christmas holidays shall end a week earlier this year.' Dumbledore informed them. 'Now, Miss Evans, it came to my attention that you have a certain suspicion of Voldemort's so called invincibility. I was glad to know that I was not the only one having these ideas.'

'You mean… you though he'd made them as well? The horcruxes?' Lily asked the grey haired man.

'I have never had a doubt in my mind that he had.' Dumbledore beamed at the two of them. 'But now I must discuss with you a more recent enquiry, I trust that both of you have heard of the Order of the Phoenix?'

'Yes.' They both said.

'Well then, consider this your official invitation to join.'

Both he and Lily gawped at Dumbledore as Lily said, 'But sir, we aren't even 17 yet.'

'Actually Miss Evans, I think you will find that it happens to be your 17th birthday in just a few weeks. And Mr Potter here only has two more months of being underage.' Dumbledore told her.

James quickly looked at Lily and said, 'I'll join.'

He saw Lily sigh slightly as she said, 'me too.'

'Well lovely,' beamed Dumbledore, 'we have been shown tonight what a great team the two of you make. Purely out of an old man's curiosity… would you two be-?' The question hung in the air for a few seconds until the two of them understood what the headmaster had meant.

'Oh, no professor. Just good friends.' James told him quickly.

'Ah, yes, purely my curiosity kicking in. The two of you best be off to bed, you must be thoroughly worn out from the events of today.'

The two of them rose from their chairs and bid goodnight to their professor.

Lily POV:

It was hard enough to convince Marlene and Alice that nothing was going on between her and James, but now the _headmaster _too?

'Lily, you okay?' James asked her, obviously having noticed how odd she was acting.

'Yea, fine… Just trying to understand everything that's happened tonight.'

_At least that lie was half true_, she thought.

'You were so brave though, Lils,' James told her, 'I was glad you were there with me, I panicked.'

Lily smiled at him and said, 'Cheers, Jamesie.'

'Still haven't given up on that name?'

'Goodnight, Potter.' She laughed.

Boing. Boing. Boing.

Lily was woken by someone jumping on her bed at five in the morning.

She sat up, her eyes desperately trying to focus on the person waking her.

_Of course_, she thought, _Potter._

'I take it you finally worked out how to get up here without being killed?' she asked him.

'It was simply a matter of not being afraid of a slide.' James teased her.

Lily laughed slightly and got out of bed, when she realized she was in a rather tight singlet and shorter shorts than she would like to be seen in.

'Hurry up, Lils! Today's an important day!'

'Why's tha- OH! Everyone gets back today!'

'I can see what a good friend you are, Lils.' James laughed at her.

'Oh shut up, Jamesie.' She laughed back.

'What time do they get in?' James asked her rather suddenly.

'About 3, whys that?'

'Because I'm taking you flying!' James beamed at her.

'You know I couldn't fly if my life depended on it, Potter.'

'And there's only one way to improves, Lils!'

'What would that be, Jamesie?' she teased.

'By _doing_!' James shouted.

'Oh god…' she muttered as she walked to the bathroom.

She came out five minutes later with her hair in a loose bun and with a jumper and jeans on.

'Let's go, Evans!' James cried and ran out of the dorm. She just laughed and slowly followed. 'C'mon, Evans, hurry up!'

She didn't bother to quicken her pace at all, and was extremely surprised when James ran back to her and pulled her over his shoulder.

'See Evans, this is what happens when you don't walk fast enough.' James teased her.

'Potter, if you don't let me go I'll-'

'You'll _what_, Lils?'

'I'll… I'll persuade you into letting me go.'

'Well Lily, do tell me these persuasion tactics.'

'I'll kiss you. But only if you let me down.' Lily told him.

'Hmmm… let me think about that, Lils.' James stopped in fake consideration. 'You've got yourself a deal.' James told her as he gently let her down.

Being the cunning girl she was, Lily quickly kissed James' cheek. At least she was keeping the deal.

'Now I think we both agree that was barely classed as a kiss, Evans.' James told her.

'But I never made guidelines.' She laughed.

Neither of them had realized that they were both already on the quiddinch pitch until Lily said, 'I'll get the brooms!' and set off at a sprint towards the broom shed.

James POV:

_Lily Evans will forever torment me and drive me crazy_, James thought, _at least it's worth it._

Lily had stepped out of the broom cupboard ten minutes later with two of the school's Cleansweep 5's.

'Alright then, Evans, time to get started! Mount your broom and kick off!' He told Lily cheerfully.

'You know how I said that I couldn't fly if my life depended on it? Well I can't fly if my life depended on it.'

'Cmon, Lils! She of little faith! Just mount it and kick off, if you fall then I would attempt to catch you.'

Lily hesitated for a moment longer and kicked off from the ground.

'See Evans? Not that hard, is it?'

'I suppose not…' Lily answered as he kicked off from the ground himself.

'Race you to the hoops!' He shouted.

They spent the rest of the day flying, until it was twenty past three and they decided that it was time to meet the others at the Hogsmeade Station.

'Wait a minute, Lils!' James called.

'This can't be good…' Lily muttered.

He had led Lily down to the kitchens, and without explaining at all began to load three plates of pies, salads, fruits, eggs, bacon, and everything else that the house elves had to offer.

'I'm going to take a guess and say that would all be for Sirius, Remus and Peter?'

'You guessed correctly, Evans.'

Once James had levitated the plates to float in front of the pair as they walked, they walked out of the kitchens and out into the fresh air.

The two practically raced each other to the station, although James had trouble keeping up with Lily due to the plates threatening to topple over.

'Alright, there's my exercise for the year.' Lily said as they both skidded to a halt outside of the aged station.

James laughed as he sat down on a bench next to Lily and waited for the train to arrive.

They had sat there for forty minutes, simply talking, until a scarlet train face could be spotted in the distance. The both of them jumped up and ran towards the compartment of which their group had occupied in the past two train rides.

James looked to his right and saw that Lily was practically dancing, she must have been really excited to see Alice and Marlene.

Lily POV:

She was extremely happy to see Marlene and Alice again, as well as the three marauders.

…Not that she hadn't enjoyed the past few weeks with James.

Had she?

Did she actually like him then?

This was not the time to dwell! She decided.

At last the train had stopped and the first few passengers had begun to step off. Lily spotted Marlene and Alice immediately and ran over to them and hugged them each in turn.

'I missed you guys so much!' Lily told them.

'We missed you heaps too!' Alice told her.

'Yes, yes. Enough of that. Now tell me, did anything happen between you and James?' Marlene asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

'Mar! Nice to see you too, I'm good thanks for asking.' Lily said sarcastically.

'Tell us Lils, what happened?' Marlene persisted.

'Absolutely nothing.' Lily told them, 'Expect we had to fight off a few death eaters… I intimidated Voldemort… the usual.'

'WHAT!' Marlene and Alice yelled together.

'I'll tell you when we get to our dorm, and you guys can tell me what you did as well. I'm just going to go say hi to the guys.'

Lily walked off in search of the marauders, surprisingly, they weren't hard to find either, but it did help that Sirius called out 'Evans!' To which Lily replied 'Black!' and hugged him.

She then hugged Peter and Remus and asked, 'So how were your holidays?'

'More importantly,' Sirius said slyly, 'how were yours?'

'Er… Fine? Revised for transfiguration, kicked death eater ass, intimidated Voldemort, had some good old chats with Dumbledore… the usual, y'know.'

'WHAT?' The three marauders yelled in unison as Lily fought back the urge to giggle.

'I'll have to tell you later, I have to tell Marlene and Alice as well… might as well do it all at once. See you guys later!'

James POV:

As Lily walked away, Sirius rounded on him. 'Well?'

'Well what?' He asked defensively.

'You bloody well know what! Did it finally happen with Evans?' Sirius asked him.

'Nope.' James said calmly.

Sirius laughed at him and shook his head as they began to walk back up to the castle.

Lily POV:

The marauders, Marlene, Alice, and Lily were sitting at a table in the common room with a Muffliato charm around them.

'Are you okay to tell us what happened?' Alice asked.

'Yes…' Lily replied as she sighed slightly. She had been rehearsing what she would tell them all day, but everything she had in mind had all vanished.

'Well… James and I were going down to dinner… and when we walked in none of the teachers were there. We thought it was a bit strange, so we decided that we might as well see what was going on… We heard something in the entrance hall… and when we looked there were six death eaters there. We decided that we'd try and stun some of them from around the corner… y'now… to confuse some of them long enough for McGonagall and Flitwick to act, because they were the only two there fighting them… so we took out two, and another two came around the corner to see who was there… so we took out those two as well… so we decided to see if the other two had been stunned as well… but when we came around… Voldemort was there. Somehow he knew who we were… he'd expected us to come… he called me a mudblood, but of course I'm used to that by now… and I-' Lily stopped abruptly and realized that she hadn't explained her theory of the horcruxes yet.

Ten minutes and many questions later, she had successfully explained how horcruxes worked and why Voldemort would want to use them. So she continued on…

'It'd probably be best if only you guys knew about the horcruxes… I mean, it's a pretty big assumption. So anyway, where was I… right… so I stepped right up to Voldemort, and told him that I knew about them… and that if they were destroyed he could die just like any other man… and then Dumbledore showed up… which I was really grateful for, they say Dumbledore's the only one he ever feared… So anyway he told Voldemort that the aurors were on their way… so you-know-who just told swore revenge upon me and Dumbledore… and he disapparated.'

She looked up and saw that everyone around the table was staring at her with open mouths. Sirius seemed to be the first one to recover, for he said 'Well you two are pretty badass then. I mean… how many sixteen year old wizards can say they've intimidated Voldemort? Actually, how many wizards can say they've intimidated Voldemort full stop!'

Everyone around the table laughed and smiled slightly. Yet it was clear that people were concerned still.

'Lily… this guy's sworn revenge on you… you don't think-' Marlene said.

'Mar, it's fine… He has better and more important people to kill right now.' Lily attempted to diffuse the tension.

'Well you two were so brave! And you said you didn't think you were a Gryffindor, Lily!' Alice stated.

Both of them muttered a quick and quiet thanks as Lily turned slightly red.

'Alright… I think I might go off to bed…' Lily announced.

'It's six o'clock, Lily, you haven't even been to dinner yet.' Remus told her.

'Yeah… I know…' She said as she began to walk up the staircase and disappeared into her dorm.

'We should go see what up with her…' Alice said to Marlene.

Marlene nodded in agreement and they set off to their dormitory.

Lily heard a door open and prayed that it was just Carrie coming in to get something before dinner… But of course it wasn't.

'Lily…' said Alice's voice softly. 'What's up?'

'Other than the sky, you mean?' Lily asked quietly.

'Yes Lily, other than the sky.' Marlene said just as softly as Alice had.

'I just… I guess I'm just worried… About what he said to me… That I'd pay…' Lily said, 'I mean… it could have just been an empty threat… but still…' She trailed off.

'Lily, it's okay to be worried, that's what makes you a person… But for now… Let's just go down to dinner and try to forget about what happened, alright?' Marlene said.

Lily got up quickly and hugged both of the girls sitting beside her.

'Thanks.' She murmured.

'Any time, Lils.' Alice replied.

James POV:

He was really worried for Lily, the most powerful dark wizard of all time had threatened her, it was definitely something to be concerned about…

James saw Lily as she walked into the great hall with Alice and Marlene, somehow smiling. He wondered how it was even possible for her to be strong at the moment. But that was Lily Evans…

He and the other marauders had eaten their dinner almost silently, as they were all concerned about Lily, yet none of them wanted to talk about it.

A few moments later, Lily had sat down next to him, Marlene next to Sirius of course, and Alice beside Lily.

'You alright?' He whispered to Lily.

She nodded slightly in reply, but James knew how hard she was trying to cover up her concern.

They spent the rest of their dinner as they usually would, talking endlessly and cracking corny jokes. James found it interesting that Lily was contributing to the conversation more than usual, he supposed he would have to talk to her later.

As the group of seven began to walk out of the hall, they found their path blocked by a smiling Professor McGonagall.

'Could I see Mr Potter and Miss Evans in my office?' The teacher said strictly.

Five long minutes later, he and Lily were sitting in Minnie's spacious office.

'I take it you both know why I have summoned you here.' The elder witch asked them, two which the two teenagers shook their heads. 'I wished to commend your actions from the other night, I would also like to ask the both of you what you wish to do once you have left Hogwarts. It was a mandatory topic to discuss, but after seeing what you are both capable of I wish to discuss it again.'

'Now Lily,' she continued, 'I remember that you had your heart set on healing when we talked last year, is that still your goal?'

James saw Lily relax slightly next to him as she said 'Well, I've also considered becoming an auror… but I'm still not sure yet…'

'Both are wise choices. And James, I understand you wished to follow in your father footsteps and become and auror, is that still your ambition?'

'Definitely, Professor.'

'Thankyou both, I was purely checking that your talents would not go to waste. I feel the need to also ask, however, another question… Purely out of curiosity… Would the two of you be-?'

She had said it just as Dumbledore had, and James found himself trying to hold in laughter.

'No, Professor. Just good friends.' Lily told her.

'Good friends? If you had told me that three years ago, I may have taken you to St Mungos!'

They all laughed, but stopped quickly. After McGonagall had bid them goodnight, the pair began the short walk to Gryffindor tower.

First Dumbledore… now McGonagall… this was getting ridiculous, he'd have to say something to her soon… just when the time was right.

'Well, what did Minnie want?' Sirius asked just as they had walked through the portrait hole. James couldn't help but notice how anxious he sounded.

'She just wanted to know if we were quote 'using our talents correctly' which I found extremely off topic and farfetched.' Lily told them.

'Ah… the brightest witch of her age always doubting her abilities…' Sirius sighed deeply, 'So that's really all she wanted? Didn't accuse you of any pranks that we may or may not have taken part in?'

'Nope.' James assured him.

After what looked like a lot of confusion, Sirius said, 'That's not like Minnie… Anyways, we better get to bed soon.' And after quickly pecking Marlene on the lips, Sirius stalked out of the room, followed by the other three marauders.

'Night, girls.' James said.

'Night.' The three mumbled together.

Lily POV:

'I might go up to bed as well…' Alice said.

'Yea me too.' Marlene had agreed.

'I'm just gonna stay down here and get warm, I'll be up soon.' Lily told them.

Ten minutes and half a pint of butterbeer later, Lily was sitting on the comfiest couch in the common room reading The _Tales of Beedle the Bard_. After hearing footsteps coming from the boys staircase she did nothing to change her composure.

'Evans, do you plan on sleeping any time this century?' An all too familiar voice asked her.

'Yeah… it's just… the books just starting to get good…'

'Lily,' James told her as he sat down next to her, 'What's really wrong?'

'I just… I guess I'm worried… Not just for myself, but for everyone out there fighting… and-and I just… I don't know…'

'Lils, it's alright to be worried, I'm pretty sure everyone in the castle is… Just don't think about it too much, it'll be alright in the end…'

Lily buried her head into his shoulder and said 'Thanks, James.'

'No problem, Lils.'

Lily didn't remember falling asleep; all she knew was that she had woken up in her dormitory bed with a Gryffindor scarf wrapped loosely around her neck.

And it smelt like Amortentia.

'Lily, you awake?' Alice asked her.

'Mmm…' She grumbled in reply.

'Well, happy birthday!'

'Is it the thirtieth already?' Lily asked as she slowly got to her feet.

'You seem excited for someone who just turned 17…' Marlene told her.

'Oh, right! _Accio robes_!' Lily yelled and five pairs of Gryffindor robes came flying at her, all hitting her in the face.

'Smooth.' Alice snorted.

'Maybe I should be a bit more specific next time… Anyways, let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving!'

'Wait! I need to give you my present first!' Alice shrieked.

'Oh, you didn't need to get me anything.' Lily assured her as accepted a package covered in red paper.

'It's fine Lily, open it, open it!'

Lily quickly tore the wrapping paper away to reveal a picture of Marlene, Alice and herself waving to the camera with big smiles on their faces.

'Alice, it's amazing! Thankyou!' Lily hugged her.

Once heading down to breakfast, Lily found that there was a newcomer sitting with their group.

Now, this was no ordinary girl sitting there. This was Emmeline Vance, aka the biggest slag Hogwarts had ever seen… and she was sitting with Potter.

Even though she was only a fifth year, Emmeline was prettier than most of the seventh years. Was Lily jealous that the girl with modern Marilyn Monroe looks was practically sitting on James? Was she jealous that he was whispering things in her ear that made her giggle?

She shouldn't be.

So why was she?

Why was she so hurt?

Lily sighed slightly and followed Alice towards where Sirius and Marlene were sitting, not far from the giggling pair.

'Happy birthday, Lils!'

'Aw cheers, Marls!' Lily said as she took a package from her. 'It's amazing, thankyou!' She inspected the book Marlene had gotten her, called Pride and Prejudice. 'I left my only copy at home, I've missed it so much!'

'Oh god, Lily…' Sirius sighed. 'At this rate you'll end up marrying a book!'

'C'mon, Sirius! Who needs blokes when you have books?' Lily asked him.

She looked up from her fruit salad.

Great.

Now they're snogging.

So much for breakfast.

She turned back to the conversation at hand to find that Sirius was giving her a meaningful look, to which Lily just shrugged and tried her best to join in with Marlene and Alice's conversation.

The next few weeks just went on and on for Lily, she and James have gone back to what they had done in fourth year; completely ignoring each other.

They both hated it, but there was nothing they could do.

One month and no-changes-whatsoever later, Lily found herself in the great hall once again, being disgusted as she watched James and Emmeline.

'Oh, Lily, I was wondering if I could talk to you quickly.' Emmeline addressed her.

This was weird, the two had never exchanged more than a quick hello before. But against her temptations, Lily followed her out of the hall.

'Now, Lily, I have a question to ask you, and you have to be one hundred percent truthful when you answer…' Emmeline did not wait for a reply as she went on, 'So, I want to know if there's anything at all going on between you and James.'

'Oh!' Said a startled Lily, 'Oh, um, n-nothing… Nothing.'

'So you don't have any feelings for him _at all_?'

'None whatsoever.' Lily lied.

'Okay then,' Emmeline said cheerfully, 'that's all I wanted to know, bye bye.' She skipped off.

Lily stood there for a while, completely flabbergasted before returning to breakfast.

Hundreds of owls swept down from the ceiling as usual, although Lily did not bother to check if one had brought news for her, as her family were muggles.

'Lily,' Sirius told her as she looked up to find that they were the only two of their group left at the table, 'you've got an owl.'

One of the black ministry owls had landed on the table next to her, and was taking a generous amount of pumpkin juice from her goblet.

_Miss Evans,_

_The Ministry of Magic regrets to inform you that there has been recent death eater activity around your home._

_Unfortunately, this resulted in the death of approximately 20 muggles. _

_Your mother attempted to protect her house and the neighborhood, resulting in her death. Your sister is alive and well, and will be writing to you soon in order to discuss your living arrangements._

_Terribly sorry for your loss,_

_Alastor Moody, Head of the Auror Department._

Lily felt tears well up in her eyes as she ran from the hall.

'Lily! Lily, whats wrong!' Sirius called after her.

After running through the castle, attempting to find a private space, Lily collapsed onto the floor in the middle of a deserted corridor.

She let the tears fall as she heard footsteps coming her way.

'Lily?' Sirius said, 'You okay? I saw the letter…'

'I'm… well… I'll be okay eventually. It's just… I never imagined her dying. It seemed impossible… I thought she was invincible…'

'I know what you mean, Lily.' Sirius assured her.

'But you hate your parents, how could you understand?' Lily asked softly.

'No, Lily. I hate the _Blacks_, my real parents; however, are Christopher and Adele Potter. And I love them to bits, if anything were to happen to them… it would affect me just as much as it would James.'

For some unknown reason, Lily sobbed slightly at the mention of James.

'Lily, just tell the boy you like him for Merlin sake.' Sirius told her.

'Wha-? I nev- Why- I didn't say- Well he's with Emmeline now, regardless of what I think.'

'But it's not like their relationship is actually going anywhere.' Sirius said slightly bitterly.

'What's up? I thought the two of you had been a bit distant lately…'

'It's just… This Emmeline bird… He's always snogging her. It's like he has no time for the rest of us anymore… Just… Please tell me that me and Marlene aren't like that?'

Lily laughed slightly and said, 'I get what you mean, I haven't even talked to him in weeks… And you and Marlene have only ever snogged in public a handful of times. Plus, you're great together, so I don't mind that much anyway.'

'Well I've got her best friend's approval, so that's all that matters.' Sirius smiled.

'Wait a minute! Marls is your first official girlfriend, isn't she! That's adorable, Sirius!'

'Oh shut up…' He mumbled.

Lily laughed at him as he said, 'Alright, let's get you to class!'

**Okay so turns out when he took her flying it was in this chapter, whoopsies...**

**So this update was pretty long.**

**I didn't know where to stop okay :(**

**But I've written up to when they're on the train leaving Hogwarts, and trust me, a loooooooooot happens between where I've updated here and where I've written up to.**

**Enjoy for then :)**

**PS. I 3 Reviews.**

**PPS. Because it took me so so so long to update, here's a little spoiler from the next chapter...**

_Lily tried desperately not to fall to the floor as pain overwhelmed her. But before long, it stopped._


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